This is a 2 flag day for us: we come back to the USA and the red, white and blue through customs on Drummond Island; and we really earn our gold burgee for our Great Circle Loop for the 2008-2010 trip. We will not be going back into Lake Superior this year, but we were here in De Tour Village on 9/12/08 at the start of that Loop, and crossed our wake here today after logging 7,315 miles. We know we’re back in familiar waters as the ore freighters are on parade and they definitely have the right-of-way.
We are quietly reflective today compared to our other Loop milestone of technically completing the Great Circle Loop in the Chesapeake on 6-27-09 (see archive article, It's Been a Grand Adventure). Since that accomplishment, we’ve really slowed down, savored the moment and have broken-up the final leg into segments. It has been less stressful, and more fun in many ways than the fast-paced Loop schedule. Going only 300 miles in 3 months allowed us to really revisit our roots, relatives and friends in New Jersey, New York and Vermont last summer and fall, and this spring. Slowly cruising the Chambly, Rideau and Trent-Severn Canadian canals this summer, and then exiting into the Georgian Bay and North Channel areas of Lake Huron has been the highlight of our entire Loop.
We went to the De Tour Botanic garden today as we did on 9/12/08. Here are a few of the images from there: a Passage Keeper, a Sea Memorial and a Window on the World. It captures some of how we feel today—thankful that we could make this passage, and mindful that it has definitely given us a new window on the world.
We are quietly reflective today compared to our other Loop milestone of technically completing the Great Circle Loop in the Chesapeake on 6-27-09 (see archive article, It's Been a Grand Adventure). Since that accomplishment, we’ve really slowed down, savored the moment and have broken-up the final leg into segments. It has been less stressful, and more fun in many ways than the fast-paced Loop schedule. Going only 300 miles in 3 months allowed us to really revisit our roots, relatives and friends in New Jersey, New York and Vermont last summer and fall, and this spring. Slowly cruising the Chambly, Rideau and Trent-Severn Canadian canals this summer, and then exiting into the Georgian Bay and North Channel areas of Lake Huron has been the highlight of our entire Loop.
We went to the De Tour Botanic garden today as we did on 9/12/08. Here are a few of the images from there: a Passage Keeper, a Sea Memorial and a Window on the World. It captures some of how we feel today—thankful that we could make this passage, and mindful that it has definitely given us a new window on the world.
